Tactics Volume 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

Sakura Kinoshita (Author), Kazuko Higashiyama (Author)

Book Description

Kantarou Ichinomiya is a curious young boy with an odd profession: He is a teenage ghostbuster! He, along with a male ogre and a female specter, roam the streets of Japan, hoping to solve the various troubles that monsters have inflicted upon humans. This fairy tale of goblins and boogey men explores a world unseen by our eyes, where teenage boys can solve the unthinkable and befriend creatures that are unimaginable, even in the land of dreams.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—The mystique of a magical, feudal Japan is the theme of this new series. Kantarou is a young folklorist who is also studying supernatural beings, or youkai, and "exterminating" them. A mysterious young woman hires him and takes him into the bucolic countryside to a shrine. She remarks that her parents were once the caretakers, and that her fiancé recently assaulted her, probably because he is demon-possessed. A centuries-old demon hunter named Haruka appears elsewhere, hypnotically chanting his spells in an ancient language. Occasionally, his chanting carries on for several pages, which, combined with the action on the page, makes for a thrilling experience. A "Notes" section reveals how complex the story really is, and it is apparent that quite a lot may have been lost in translation. There are few stock manga characters such as rail-thin older boys or ethereally lovely young women; instead, there is action and fighting—demons being killed, spells cast, etc. The artwork is all black and white, as usual for this genre. A well-produced manga and already a series in Japan, Tactics will likely catch on if the story grows in the succeeding volumes.—John Leighton, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: ADV Manga (October 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413901786
• ISBN-13: 978-1413901788
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,712,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adorable art and characters., February 14, 2005

By 

Hesper23 "Grad student" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tactics Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Tactics chronicles the ghost-busting adventures of Kantarou and his goblin friends. Volume 1 offers 3 seperate stories, in which we're introduced to all the major characters: the sly, youthful-looking Kantarou, Youko--the foxy maid, and Haruka, an extremely powerful, handsome, and elegant "goblin-eater".

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this manga. There's a cheerfulness and cuteness about the art and characters that is extremely engaging. The target audience is probably 10-16 year-olds; I am past this age bracket, being a university senior, but that didn't stop me from liking the series. Fans of the Tactics anime should definitely check out the original manga.

Okay, now for the bad. There is something seriously screwed up about ADV's editing: text-over-images have not been edited at all, nor the sound effects. The result is rather messy: there will be one bubble in Japanese, and another bubble in English. I don't see the same things happening in my TokyoPop, Viz, or Darkhorse mangas, so I've got to wonder what ADV was thinking.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tokyopop's Translation Is Quite Good, May 16, 2007

By 

Kiwi Bird - See all my reviews

This review is from: tactics Volume 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

This ongoing manga series (currently at 7 volumes) has a historical (Taisho-period) Japanese setting. Humor, magic, and mild drama ensue in this loveable series.

The Tokyopop translation is quite good, with helpful notes and everything, in stark contrast to ADV's attempt.

The main character, Kantarou, is a clever and mischevious writer and folklorist who can see youkai and other magical creatures. Haruka is an extremely powerful (and handsome) tengu who has been named by Kantarou, and is therefore required to obey him.

The art style is quite lovely here, and the characters are really fun. There is also an associated anime series.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate translation ruins an otherwise outstanding manga..., August 27, 2005

By 

J. McQuady - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tactics Volume 2 (Paperback)

Tactics is a very entertaining manga series with well-developed characters and interesting storylines. Unfortunately, ADV's translation of this volume leaves much to be desired. The main problem is that they made a serious error in changing the sex of two of the main characters, sending Tactics fans everywhere into an uproar. There is no excuse for a mistake of this magnitude, so I can only assume that ADV must have done it intentionally, perhaps because one of the characters is a bit androgynous looking.

I have all of the original Japanese volumes of Tactics and was looking forward to buying the English translation as well, but I can't support a company that makes such serious translation errors. Nor a company that so blatantly ignores and looks down on its fanbase by assuming that no one would notice such an error.